April 20, 1937-v
G. GASTRICH _
2,077,557
KNITTElj FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME
Filed March 9, 193s~ '
QSheets-Sheet 1
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INVENTOR:
April 20, 1937.
2,077,557
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wi@.% w
2,077,551
*' Patented Apr. 20, 1937
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE
2,077,557
KNITTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING ‘
THE SAME
Gustav Gastrich, Wyomissing, _Pa_., assignor O.
Textile Machine Works, Wyomissmg, Pa, a cor
poration of Pennsylvania
Application March 9, 1933, Serial No. 660,081
(Cl. 66—178)
‘ 1 Claim.
This invention relates to knitted fabrics and
articles of wearing apparel, such as silk stock
ings or the like, made therefrom, and to a novel
method of making the same.
1
As ‘is well known, the silk thread or yarn from
which hosiery and similar articles are made is
graded according to its “evenness”, expressed in
percentage, the silk varying from 68% evenness,
usually regarded as a low grade silk, to 92%
10 which is an extra ?ne grade. Since the price of
silk having the higher percentage of evenness is
much higher than the price of silk of lower-per
centage of evenness, the lower priced stockings
are commonly knit from silk of an evenness of
from rings or other noticeable e?ects ordinarily
caused by variation in evenness of the silk.
Another object is to reduce the number of re
jections and “seconds” due to variation in even
ness of the silk, and to enable lower grades of silk
to be used, resulting in increase in production
and reducing the cost of manufacture of the
stockings.
.
With these and other objects in‘view, ‘which will
become apparent from the following detailed de 10
scription of the illustrative embodiments of the
invention shown in the accompanying drawings,
my invention resides in the novel fabrics and a1‘
ticles, and method of producing the same, as
hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the 15
15 from 68% to 78%, while the higher priced stock
claim.
_
'
ings are knit from the better grades of silk.
In the drawings:
'
Not only does silk thread or yarn of di?erent
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a full fash
grades differ ‘in evenness, but in silk of the same
ioned
stocking embodying the invention;
grade there is often a variation in evenness of the
Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views of the 20
20 yarn, even though the silk may come from the
‘foot and leg portions, respectively, of the ?at
same ?lature, and various lengths of the yarn,
blank of the stocking of Fig. 1;
often several yards long, will have a diameter knitted
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the loop for
either greater or less than the average diameter‘
ofthe yarn, this condition occurring at more or mation of the fabric of Figs. 2 and 3; and
Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of a mod 25
25 less regular intervals throughout the yarn.
In the production of hosiery, particularly i?cation of the invention shown in the other
'
1 ladies’ stockings, this variation in evenness of the ?gures.
silk frequently causes one or more coursewise ex
tending rings or bands to appear in the stock
30 ing which di?er in shading and appearance from
the body of the stocking. These elfects are read
, ily observed after the dying and boarding proc
ess, and are especially noticeable when the stock
ing is stretched on the leg of the wearer. The
v 35 number of stockings showing the effects of va
riation in evenness often reaches large propor
tions, resulting in an excessive number of “sec
on ”, thus materially increasing the cost. of
manufacture of the stockings and substantially
40 curtailing production.
,
Qne of the objects of the invention is to
obviate the above disadvantages, and enhance the
appearance of articles of wearing apparel, par
ticularly ladies’ silk stockings, by minimizing or
45 preventing the e?ects caused by variation in
evenness of the yarn from which the stocking is
knit; more particularly, two or more separate
main body yarns of the same grade and kind are
used in knitting the stocking, the yarns being
alternately employed in succeeding courses
throughout substantially the entire stocking
length, whereby the variation in evenness in any
“ particular length of'one of the yarns is compen
‘ ‘sated for and its eifect minimized by the adjacent
’ -55 yarn or yarns, so that the overall effect is free
Referringto Fig. 1 there is’ shown a full fash
ioned silk stocking of the type produced on a
straight knitting machine, the stocking havmg a 30
welt ‘l, leg portion 8, instep 9, heel l0, sole I I, and
toe l2.
the stocking leg com-
Usually, and as shown,
prises a sheer non-reinforced area in which the
undesirable eifects of rings or stripes caused by 35
variation in evenness of the silk are especially
pronounced. The stocking is preferably made
on the “Reading” full fashioned knitting ma.
chine, the various parts and operation of which.
are well known in the art, and are shown and
described in detail in the Reading Full Fash
ioned Knitting Machine catalogue (copyright
1929) published by the-Textile Machine Works,
Reading, Pennsylvania.
Fig. 3 illustrates one method of knitting a 45
stocking blank comprising the welt and leg por-v
tions of the stocking of Fig. 1. Instead of using
a single yarn for the main body yarn and em
ploying one main yarn carrier asheretoi'ore, two
separate yarns of the same grade and kind,
carried by two main yarn carriers, are used to
form the main body‘yarn, the separate yarns re- _
spectively forming adjacent courses and alter
nating in succeeding courses throughout the fab-v
ric. In the ?g‘ure, the horizontal lines between
2
2,077,557
the picot edge [4 and topping-on course l5 dia
grammatically represent the path of travel of the
sary to employ the invention in various portions
of the stocking, for example, in the welt, or in
main yarn carriers in a legger on which the blank
is made. The arrows on the lines indicate the
direction of travel in successive courses of the
yarn carriers, shown in this instance as carriers
tion, or in the heel and foot portions, in which
the effects of variation in evenness of the silk
will not be observable or, if observable, will not
Nos. 2 and 4, although it will be understood that
be objectionable.
various other through carriers, for example, Nos.
1 and 3, may likewise be used. The method of
The movements of the yarn carriers in the
manner stated may readily be obtained on the
10 controlling the carriers to alternate the yarns
the lower portion of the leg, as the instep por- -
Reading machine by the use of the well known re
in succeeding courses throughout the fabric is
inforced
as follows:
claimed in U. S. Patents Nos. 1,713,628, 1,793,669
and 1,833,310, or by stop control mechanism of the
One of the carriers, such as No. 2 carrier, is
caused to traverse the knitting ?eld from right
15 to left, as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4, and lay the
yarn to form a course 2a, and in the succeeding
course the carrier travels from left to right, thus
forming two adjacent courses 2a from the yarn
carried by No. 2 carrier, the No. 4 carrier being
20 held at this time at the right hand side of the
blank. In the succeeding two courses 4a, No. 2
carrier is held at- the right hand side of the
blank, and No. 4 carrier is caused to travel from
right to left in one course and return in the
selvage
attachment,
disclosed
10
and
type disclosed and claimed in a copending ap
plication of Rudolph Anke, on which U. S. Patent
#2,049,887 was issued on August 4, 1936 for
Full fashioned knitting machine, or by any other
suitable mechanism known in the art for con
trolling the action and extent of traverse of the
respective yarn carriers in the manner described.
Figs. 5 and 6 show a modi?cation, in which
three separate yarns are employed to form the
main body yarn of the stocking, and three main
yarn carriers are used to alternate the positions
.25
succeeding course, as. indicated by the arrows, - of the yarns in succeeding courses throughout 25
thus forming the courses do from the yarn car
the fabric. In the speci?c embodiment illus
ried by No. 4 carrier.
trated, Nos. 1, 3 and 6 carriers are employed, al
The yarn of the succeeding two courses 2a
though various other through carriers may be
is again laid by No. 2 carrier, and No. 4 is held employed, if desired. Referring to Fig. 5, which
30 as in the former case. In this manner the yarns diagrammatically illustrates the paths of travel 30
carried by Nos. 2 and 4 carriers are caused to
of the yarn carriersin successive courses of the
alternate in succeeding courses throughout sub
stantially the entire length of the leg portion
of the stocking, as indicated by the horizontal
lines extending across the blank, and the effect
of variation in evenness in one or more lengths
of either of the yarns is minimized or com
pensated for by the other yarn in the adjacent
course, so that no rings or bands are observable.
40 As stated above, the alternate feeding of the
yarns by the carriers in succeeding courses is
continued throughout the length of the stocking
leg, and preferably through the instep.
It will be noted that when one of the carriers
45 is laying the yarn in any given course, the other
carrier is not taken completely out of action, but
is caused to traverse a distance of two or three
wales at the right hand selvage edge of the fab
ric, this travel being indicated by the short hori
50 zontal lines at the right hand side of the blank
of Fig. 3. The purpose of this operation is to
prevent the formation of loose loops or ends at
the edge of the fabric, and to thus avoid the
production of a ragged selvage, by the yarn of
55 either of the carriers while waiting for the re
turn of the other carrier. As will be seen from
Fig. 4, the limited movement given to the wait
ing carrier causes the yarn of such carrier to
form two wales of loops at the selvage edge; this
60 not only insures that a tight selvage will be ob
tained, but also produces a reinforced selvage.
While the main yarn carriers are caused to
stocking blank shown, No. 1 carrier is shown
as laying the yarn from left to right to form a
course la (shown in the upper part of Fig. 6)
from the yarn carried by No. 1 carrier, while 35
Nos. 3 and 6 carriers are waiting at the left and
right selvage edges" respectively of the blank,
except that they are given a limited movement as
hereinafter stated. In a succeeding course, which
is preferably the course 6a adjoining that formed 40
by the yarn of No. 1 carrier, No. 6 carrier lays
its yarn from right to left, while Nos. 1 and 3
carriers are held at opposite sides respectively of
the blank. In the next course No. 3 carrier lays
its yarn from left to right to form the next
course 3a, Nos. 1 and 6 carriers being held at
the opposite selvages at this time. The cycle of
operation of the carriers is now repeated in the
succeeding three courses, each yarn carrier travel
ing in an opposite direction from that of its
travel in the preceding course since each of the
carriers starts from the opposite side of the blank.
The three main yarns are thus caused to alter
nate throughout substantially the entire length
of the stocking, and thuslvariation in evenness of 55
one of the yarns is compensated for and its ef
fect minimized or rendered negligible by the two
adjacent yarns so that the over all effect is sub
stantiallyefree from rings or other undesirable ef
fects due to the variation in evenness of the silk. 60
As indicated in Fig. 5, when the carriers are
held at the opposite sides of the stocking blank
alternately lay their yarns throughout the length - they are permitted to traverse two or three wales
of the main blank, it is not necessary to carry of the fabric, thus resulting in a clean tight sel
65 this out in the lower ends of the reinforced heel
tabs Illa since the effect of variation in evenness
of the yarn is minimized by the reinforcing yarn
employed in these areas.
Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrates that por
70 tion of the stocking blank produced on a footer,‘
in which two main yarns are alternately em
ployed, in the same manner as in the leg, through
vage at both edges of the blank, shown in Fig. 6.
The control and movements of the carriers may
be effected by any of the yarn, carrier stop con
trol means above referred to.
In the speci?c embodiment illustrated, the leg
and foot portions of the blank are knit on sepa 70
rate machines, viz., a legger and a footer, but
it will be understood that the stocking may or
the instep portion 8 to the beginning of the >may not be full fashioned, and may be produced
toe l2.
75 It will be understood that it may be unneces
on single unit machines, or on various other
machines of the straight type.
75
3
2,077,557
While the invention is particularly applicable
to silk yarn, it is also applicable to various other
kinds of yarn or thread, such as'arti?cial silk,
cotton, or other yarn in which variation in even
5 ness of the yarn tends to detrimentally a?ect
the appearance of the article knit therefrom.
The invention is obviously not limited to stock
ings, since various other articles of wearing ap
parel may be knit in accordance with the method
10 of the invention to thereby prevent or minimize
undesirable e?ects caused by variation in even
ness 0! the yarn employed.
'
Of course, the improvements speci?cally shown
and described, by which I obtain the above re
15 sults, can be changed and modi?ed in various
ways without departing from the scope of the
invention
claimed.
herein
disclosed
and ‘hereinafter
‘
I claim:
A ?at knit full-fashioned hosiery blank the
‘leg portion of which comprises two yarns knit in
four course cycles, one of said yarns being knit
across the entire width of the blank in the first,
two ‘courses of each cycle and being knit only
across one selvage in the second two courses of
each cycle, and the other of said yarns being knit
only across said one selvage in said ?rst two
> courses and being knit across the entire width
of the blank in said second two courses, whereby
said one selvage is reinforced and the formation
of ?oats due to yarn alternation is obviated.
GUSTAV GASTRICH.